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Let Facebook Ring from the Ivory Tower

Academics unleash study of social networking craze

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 16, 2007 12:11 PM CST

(Newser) – Move over, preening teenagers: byte-thirsty academics are now frequenting social networking hangouts like Facebook and MySpace. Hoping to snatch a dissertation out of the latest digital craze, plus a side of fame, they’ll all have to line up behind danah boyd (small caps intended), a Berkeley PhD candidate who’s become a “celebrademic” with her insight on social networking and its effects.

She’s already aroused the ire of her colleagues in the ivory tower. One snarled that her work, which isn’t peer-reviewed, passes off mere blog entries as scholarship. And the competition is sure to get even more fierce as the field becomes more accepted as a research subject: Just recently, the University of Michigan has added a “social computing” concentration, the Washington Post reports.

[Images (5)]

[Videos (2)]

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York, Monday, November 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) (Associated Press)

(Index Stock)

MySpace.com (Getty Images)

Many researchers are studying the effects that Facebook is having on real and virtual society. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Facebook (Getty Images)

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Danah Boyd: A Discussion with Danah Boyd (UNCChapelHill (YouTube))

danah boyd on "The O'Reilly Factor" discussing MySpace (zephoria (YouTube))

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Let Facebook Ring from the Ivory Tower